During the Cold War, John Goldfarb (Richard Crenna) crashes his spy plane in the Middle East and is taken prisoner by the local government. His captor, King Fawz (Peter Ustinov), soon discovers that Goldfarb used to be a college football star. So he issues him an ultimatum: coach his country's football team, or Fawz will surrender him to the Russians. Goldfarb teams up with undercover reporter Jenny Ericson (Shirley MacLaine), and together they plot to escape their dangerous situation.